World Literature (MA)

at University of Warwick

Fundamentals of World Literature

This module's working thesis is that the dominant models of post-war literary studies are no longer tenable and that the ‘linguistic turn’ of High Theory during the last quarter of the twentieth century was a compensatory gesture that delayed, but could not remove, the intrinsic crisis in comparative literary studies. Secondly, the module aims to suggest ways in which the current disjunction between cultural studies, modern languages, and postcolonialism can be coherently bridged through comparative analyses of a society's incorporation into the capitalist world-economy.
 

Dissertation

The Dissertation offers you the opportunity to pursue your own distinct research interests. You can develop any idea you’ve discovered in your modules, or write on a completely new topic that has always fascinated you. Our students choose an array of topics within the broadly-conceived boundaries of ‘literary studies’, although we’ll discuss with you to make sure your subject can be supported by an available member of our teaching staff.

Students often use their MA dissertations as springboards to PhD projects, and have sometimes gone on to publish parts of their work in scholarly journals.
 

Optional modules
Optional modules can vary from year to year. Example optional modules may include:

• Petrofiction: Studies in World Literature
• The Caribbean: Reading the World-Ecology
• Infinite Modernisms: Pessoa, Kafka, Proust
• Narratives of American Empire
• World Literature and the Anthropocene

Minimum requirements

65% in an undergraduate degree (or equivalent) in a related subject.

English language requirements

• Band C
• IELTS overall score of 7.5, minimum component scores of two at 6.5/7.0 and the rest at 7.5 or above.

International Tuition Fees:

£29880 per year

Graduates from these courses have gone on to work for employers including: Deloitte; International Institute for Environment and Development; TeachFirst; The Times; V&A Museum; Yale University Press. They have pursued roles such as: arts officers, producers and directors; higher education teaching professionals; journalists, newspaper and periodical editors; management consultants and business analysts and marketing associate professionals.

Our department has a dedicated professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant offering impartial advice and guidance together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include:

• Understanding Assessment Centres
• Careers following your English and Comparative Literary Studies Degree
• Discovering Careers in the Creative Industries
• Careers in Publishing and Journalism
• Freelancing
• Careers in the Public Sector
• Warwick careers fairs throughout the year